Opening Statements Set For Wife Beheading Trial

BUFFALO, UNITED STATES: This undated handout image obtained 05 December, 2004 shows Aasiya Zubair (L), wife of Muzzammil Hassan, CEO for the Buffalo, New York based Bridges TV, the first-ever American Muslim television network in English. Bridges TV, which premiered 30 November, will be subscriber and advertiser supported and will target primarily the 8 million Muslims of North America in English. Bridges TV will feature English language programs focused on celebrating the American Muslim lifestyle and culture. Zubair played an instrumental role in the creation of Bridges TV since she came up with the idea of an American Muslim lifestyle network and encouraged her husband to write a business plan. AFP PHOTO/HO/BRIDGES TV (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)Aasiya Zubair and Muzzammil Hassan (credit: HO/AFP/Getty Images)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jurors were set to begin hearing the case of a western New York television executive charged with beheading his wife soon after she filed for divorce.

Opening statements in the second-degree murder trial of Muzzammil Hassan were scheduled to start Tuesday in Erie County Court in Buffalo.

The 2009 killing of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan has received much media attention, in part because the couple ran a television station whose goal was to counter negative images of Muslims.

Potential jurors were being asked whether they have issues with the Pakistan-born Hassan’s ethnicity, or the fact that he’s Muslim and may claim self-defense.

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)